THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8-14A hallmark of 2017 in the East Bay is that many of the issues in previous year that usually focus solely on the national level are flooding down to the local level on a regular basis. For the most part, thank President Trump. This week both the Oakland City Council and Alameda County Board of Supervisors will offer resolutions opposing Trump rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. And for those prepared to watch disaster porn all weekend on television, the county is also keeping its disaster relief fund open for Hurricane Irma. In addition, this week begins the East Bay Citizen’s foray into Berkeley and, boy, did they not let us down.

Here’s your highlights for the week in East Bay government:➤Burglaries in Oakland have skyrocketed over the last three months, says OPD.

➤Oakland construction firm charged with bid-rigging is losing a county contract

➤Idling your vehicle for too long in Berkeley might get you in trouble.

➤EBMUD is allowing water thieves an $800 discount on their first offense for meter tampering.

Public Works Committee, 11 a.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–ILLEGAL DUMPING SURVEY– A sample of 75 illegal dumping sites in Oakland last spring found a large percentage comes from Oakland and most of the areas are centered below the 580 Freeway and Highway 13. The study also found illegal dumping piles were largely absent from areas that include retail businesses. The consultant urges a a long-term media campaign focused on resetting community norms.”

–“In summary, the findings of the survey are as follows: (1) more than 55% of the piles found included illegally dumped materials from residential sources, (2) the geographic source of 29% of the piles was identified as Oakland, and (3) 32% of the piles were found in areas where the infrastructure was moderately to severely neglected. Further detail on each finding follows.” Community and Economic Development Committee, 1:30 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–MACARTHUR BART TRANSIT VILLAGE– The developer of a 24-story, 400-unit residential and retail building adjacent to the MacArthur BART station needs an extra 12 months to complete the project. BXP MacArthur, LLC says the project is too large to be completed within the 24 months stated in the Owner Participation Agreement it signed with the city last March. The reason: the project is too large to complete within two years, says the developer, therefore, it is seeking an extension Tuesday to March 2019.Public Safety Committee, 6 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–CRIME REPORT– Auto burglaries have skyrocketed in Oakland by 52 percent over the past year, according to the report offered Tuesday to the city council. The time frame runs from June 2016 through June 17. In addition, burglaries are risen by 41 percent in just the past three months, to report continues.

–ALAMEDA COUNTY–Regular board meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 10:45 a.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–DACA RESOLUTION– The board, led by Supervisors Wilma Chan and Scott Haggerty, will offer a resolution opposing the Trump administration’s unwinding of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “Ending the DACA program would leave its beneficiaries uncertain about their future and concerned that they may have placed other undocumented family members at risk,” said a memo from Chan’s office. “Policies that are restrictive towards and isolate or exclude immigrants jeopardize the physical and mental health of immigrants and the broader community by contributing to fear and stress, family separation, and reluctance to report crimes.”

–ASSET FORFEITURE $ TO STOP DUIs– Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern is requesting $196,400 in Federal Asset Forfeiture funds in order to pay overtime costs for deputies staffing upcoming holiday DUI checkpoints. The seizing of assets from those suspected of committing a crime and the use of the funds for law enforcement purposes is highly controversial.

–TURNER CONSTRUCTION– Oakland’s Turner Construction won a $75,000 pre-construction bid for the first phase of the Cherryland Community Center project in unincorporated Alameda County, but now the county is urging the board to decline an option to continue. Turner’s bid was $3.4 million over the $15.4 million advertised budget for the project. “GSA has determined that it is the best interest of the County to decline the option to proceed with the Construction Phase of the Project,” said a report. Also, keep in mind, Turner Construction is under investigation by the feds after being charged with fraud and bribery while procuring bids.

–HURRICANE RELIEF– Two weeks ago, Alameda County triggered its Disaster Relief Fund allowing county employees and residents to donate to victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. On Tuesday, it will seek to include donations for the potential disaster forthcoming in South Florida due to Hurricane Irma.

*****

–BERKELEY–Special council meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 3 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–PEPPER SPRAY USE– The battles of Berkeley may need to be fought with a greater arsenal. The council will discuss allowing its police department to use pepper spray in “specific circumstances when dealing with violent activity in a crowd situation.”

Regular council meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 6 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–SUPPORT FOR PUBLIC BANK PROPOSAL– Berkeley plans to allocate $25,000 to support the City of Oakland’s feasibility study for a public bank. Over the past six months the plan has expanded from being Oakland-centered to a more regional approach. Berkeley has stated previously support, as has Richmond.

–IDLING CARS ARE THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND– Three Berkeley councilmembers wants to further protect the city’s air by proposed an ordinance that bans cars from idling for extended periods of time. “The ordinance should limit vehicle engine idling when a vehicle is parked, stopped, or standing, including for the purpose of operating air conditioning equipment; and prohibit all unattended private passenger motor vehicles from idling,” according to the council referral.

–FREE TATAS– All is fair in love, war, and showing your naked chest. The council may choose to to eliminate language in an existing ordinance “which specifically targets women by criminalizing only the display of female breasts or “any portion of the breast at or below the areola thereof of any female person” in any place open to the public or any place visible from a place open to the public, while placing no such restriction upon males.”

****Refer to

the Community Environmental Advisory Commission

and the City Manager to explore developing an anti

–

idling ordinance. The ordinance

should limit vehicle engine idling when a vehicle is parked, stopped, or standing,

including for the purpose of operating ai

r conditioning equipment; and prohibit all

unattended private passenger motor vehicles from idling.

*****

–SAN LEANDRO–City Council work session, Monday, Sept. 11, 7 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–WORK SESSION– San Leandro city staff will present the council with updates on two bicycle and pedestrian projects in San Leandro: The city’s bicycle and pedestrian master plan and the East Bay Greenway Regional Bicycle and Pedestrian Trail, which includes Lake Merritt BART station to South Hayward BART station.

*****

–FREMONT–Regular council meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–DECOTO LAND SALE– In 2011, Fremont identified 10 city-owned properties as surplus and potentially sold to help finance reconstruction of its downtown and the Warm Springs area that now includes a BART station. Seven of the 10 sites have been sold for a total of $42 million, according to a city staff report. On Tuesday, the council will begin discussions about selling a property at Decoto and Fremont Boulevard that was appraised at $28 million two years ago.

*****

–EAST BAY MUD–Regular board meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 1:15 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]–WATER THEFT PENALTIES REDUCED– Water thieves will sleep better after a second reading of an ordinance that significantly reduces penalties for water theft is approved by the board. The previous tiered schedule for water meter tampering was $1,000, $2,000, $3,000. On Aug. 8, the board voted to reduce the penalties to $200, $400, $800.

3Comments

Sherrif Ahern should adjust his deputies hours so they wouldn't have to use Asset Forfeiture Funds. Overtime costs should be rexamined if the County can't afford to pay for it out of their yearly budget. Does the County not know that there are grants available for DUI Checkpoint funding?

In regard to AC Sheriff Gregory Ahern's request for 196K in federal asset forfeiture funds, Alameda County government already has far more money than it knows what to do with.

To give just a few examples:

1. Susan Muranishi, in other words AC's manager (her title is Administrator), has a total compensation of approx. 770K per year, and which almost certainly makes her the very highest paid public employee in the entire country among all of those who are mayors, city managers, county managers, governors, or anything similar. 250K per year would be far more than sufficient even if she was competent, however she does not really do very much besides turning a blind eye to wrongdoing, and which from the Board of Supervisors' perspective is probably her most important strength and the main reason they keep her.

2. And in addition to Muranishi, AC govt is loaded with plenty of other higher ranking managers, and many of whom don't do very much besides totally screwing up virtually everything they touch, and who would be drastically overpaid even if they were honest, hardworking, and competent.

3. The primary purpose of AC's Fire Department is to maintain fraternity houses (well, they call them fire stations) for extreme alcoholics who receive outrageously high salaries, and even more outrageously huge pensions.

Rather than those alcoholics hanging around in their firehouses getting drunk, AND EVEN BEING EXTREMELY WELL PAID WHILE DOING SO, they should be laid off, and then they could go to a bar to get drunk, AND WHILE ON THEIR OWN TIME.

4. Since the County is supposedly so broke, why did it continue to pay a salary to Nadia Lockyer during the time she was supposedly a member of the Board of Supervisors, but actually her primary and most time consuming functions and activities were missing meetings and being in drug induced hazes.

The above are just a few of the items that Alameda County government could look into and attempt to fix if it was actually interested ins serving the public, and not just being a hyge parasite and bloodsucking leech.